Can
English Etymology 1 (first and third person singular of "to be able, know how") from , first and third person singular of . More at canny, cunning. Pronunciation * ** , , ** ** * ** , Verb # To know how to; to be able to. #: She '''can' speak English, French, and German.'' #: I '''can' play football.'' #: ''Can you remember your fifth birthday?'' # May; to be permitted or enabled to. #: You '''can' go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.'' #: ''Can I use your pen?'' # To know. Usage notes For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to, as: * I might be able to go. * I was able to go yesterday. * I had been able to go before. * I will be able to go tomorrow. The word could also suffices in many tenses. "I would be able to go" is equivalent to "I could go", and "I was not able to go" can be rendered "I couldn't go". (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, "could verb" means "would be able to verb", but "couldn't verb" means "was/were not able to verb".) The present tense negative can not is often contracted to cannot or can't. The use of can in asking permission is sometimes criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative "may I...?". Can is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, "Can you hand me that pen?" as a polite substitution for "Hand me that pen." Synonyms * be able to * may Antonyms * cannot * can’t See also * Appendix:English tag questions Translations * American Sign Language: , * Arabic: , *: Egyptian Arabic: * Armenian: * Belarusian: , * Bulgarian: * Chinese: *: Mandarin: , , * Croatian: * Czech: , * Danish: * Dutch: * Esperanto: * Estonian: * Finnish: , , * French: * German: * Gilbertese: kona * Greek: (boró) * Hebrew: , * Hindi: , * Hungarian: * Icelandic: * Irish: , , * Italian: , , , * Japanese: , , * Korean: * Lao: * Latin: * Malay: * Maltese: , , * Nahuatl: * Norwegian: * Old English: * Persian: , * Polish: , , * Portuguese: poder, ser capaz, conseguir * Romanian: * Romansch: pudair * Russian: , , (to be skilled enough) * Scottish Gaelic: , * Slovak: , , * Slovene: * Spanish: * Swedish: * Thai: , * Turkish: , * Ukrainian: , / * Urdu: * Vietnamese: , * Welsh: , * American Sign Language: * Arabic: * Armenian: * Chinese: *: Mandarin: , * Croatian: * Czech: * Danish: , * Dutch: * Esperanto: * Estonian: võima * Finnish: , * French: * German: , * Greek: (boró) * Hebrew: * Hindi: * Icelandic: * Italian: * Macedonian: * Malay: * Maltese: * Norwegian: * Persian: , * Polish: * Portuguese: * Russian: * Scottish Gaelic: * Slovene: * Swedish: * Thai: * Turkish: , * Urdu: * Vietnamese: , * Welsh: * : mund * : poder * : pouvoir * : tud * : povas * : dapat, mampu, bisa * : ...할 수 있다 (...hal su itta) * : kanîn, karîn, şên, şiyan, tiwanîn * : poder * : (tavânestan) * : putea * : pudair * : -bil- (verbal infix) * : могти (mókhti) Etymology 2 < . Pronunciation * , ** , , ** * ** , ** Noun # A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium. # A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can). # A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish. # toilet, bathroom. # buttocks. # headphones Synonyms * tin Derived terms * beer can * can opener * carry the can * garbage can * kick the can / kick-the-can * trash can Translations * Bulgarian: * Chinese: 罐頭, 罐头 (guàn tóu) * Czech: * Danish: * Dutch: * Esperanto: * Finnish: * French: , * German: , Kannister * Icelandic: * Indonesian: * Italian: * Japanese: 缶 (かん, kan) * Kurdish: *: Sorani: , * Macedonian: * Malay: * Norwegian: , * Polish: * Portuguese: * Russian: * Scottish Gaelic: * Slovene: * Swedish: * Thai: (grà-bpŏng) * Turkish: , * Welsh: * Chinese: 容器, 容器 (róng qì) * Czech: * Danish: kande, vandkande * Dutch: * Finnish: * French: * German: * Indonesian: * Italian: * Japanese: 缶 (かん, kan) * Macedonian: , * Norwegian: * Polish: , * Portuguese: * Russian: * Slovene: škropilnica * Swedish: , * Thai: (grà-bpŏng rót náam) * Bulgarian: * Chinese: 金屬容器, 金属容器 (jīn shǔ róng qì) * Czech: * Danish: * Dutch: * Esperanto: * Finnish: * French: * German: , * Greek: * Hebrew: * Italian: * Kurdish: *: Sorani: , * Macedonian: * Malay: * Norwegian: , * Polish: kanka , kanister * Portuguese: * Russian: * Scottish Gaelic: * Slovene: pločevinka , konzerva (informal) * Spanish: * Swedish: , * Thai: (grà-bpŏng) * Bulgarian: * Chinese: 廁所, 厕所 (cè suǒ) * Danish: * Dutch: * Esperanto: , * Finnish: * French: * German: , , * Hebrew: שירותים (shirutym) , בית שימוש (beit shimush) * Malay: * Norwegian: , * Polish: * Thai: (sûam) * Chinese: 屁股, 屁股 (pì gǔ) * Danish: * Esperanto: * Finnish: * German: , * Norwegian: , * Polish: pośladki, dupa * Thai: (gôn) * : * : buxeto metala * : 깡통 (kkangtong) Verb # To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar. #: They spent August canning fruit and vegetables. # to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.). #: He '''canned' the whole project because he thought it would fail.'' # To shut up. #: ''Can your gob.'' # To fire or dismiss an employee. #: The boss '''canned' him for speaking out.'' Translations * Bulgarian: * Chinese: 保存, 保存 (bǎo cún) * Czech: * Danish: konservere, henkoge * Dutch: , * Esperanto: * Finnish: * French: * German: * Greek: (konservopoió) * Macedonian: * Malay: * Russian: консервировать (konservírovat’) * Slovene: konzervirati * Spanish: * Swedish: , * Bulgarian: * Chinese: 丟棄, 丢弃 (diū qì) * Danish: smide ud * Dutch: * French: * German: * Slovene: odvreči, zavreči * Spanish: * Thai: * Chinese: 關閉, 关闭 (guān bì) * Danish: holde mund * Dutch: * Esperanto: , * French: se taire irreg * German: die Klappe halten, * Hebrew: * Italian: * Slovene: utihniti * Spanish: * Swedish: , * Thai: (yép-bpàak) * Bulgarian: * Chinese: 解雇, 解雇 (jiě gù) * Danish: afskedige, fyre * Esperanto: * German: , , * Hebrew: * Italian: * Malay: * Slovene: odpustiti * Spanish: * Swedish: , * Thai: (bplòt) Anagrams * * ANC * CNA * NCA Category:100 English basic words Category:Containers Category:English auxiliary verbs Category:English defective verbs Category:English irregular verbs ---- Afar Noun # milk Category:aa:Beverages ---- Azeri Etymology From , whence also Turkish and Armenian . Noun # soul, spirit # being, creature, life # body # force, vigour ---- Classical Nahuatl Pronunciation * Adverb cān # Where. Derived terms * campa * canah Category:Classical Nahuatl adverbs ---- Galician Etymology From . Noun # dog Related terms * cadela Category:gl:Mammals ---- Interlingua Noun # dog # cock, hammer ---- Irish Pronunciation * Verb # To sing. Inflection Mutation Category:ga:Music ---- Italian Noun # dog ---- Mandarin Pinyin syllable can # # # # Usage notes Category:Mandarin pinyin ---- Occitan Noun # dog, hound Category:oc:Mammals ---- Scottish Gaelic Verb # say ---- Spanish Etymology From . Compare Aromanian cãne, Portuguese . Noun # dog, hound See also * cachorro * chucho * perro * pichicho ---- Turkish Pronunciation * Etymology From . Noun # soul, life, being # sweetheart Declension See also * ---- Welsh Adjective # bleached, white # hundred Noun # a can # flour Mutation See also * References * Definition from the BBC. af:can ar:can zh-min-nan:can cs:can de:can et:can el:can es:can eu:can fa:can fr:can fy:can gl:can ko:can hy:can hr:can io:can is:can it:can kk:can sw:can ku:can lo:can lt:can hu:can ml:can mn:can my:can nl:can ja:can no:can oc:can pl:can pt:can ro:can ru:can simple:can sr:can fi:can sv:can ta:can tt:can te:can th:can tr:can uk:can vi:can vo:can zh:can